Description
Report Viewer for Power BI lets you save each of your Power BI reports in WordPress, then drop it into any page or post with a shortcode.
Your Power BI sign-in happens on the server, so your Azure AD credentials are never sent to your visitors’ browsers. Credentials are also encrypted before they are saved in your WordPress database.
Features:
- Embed Power BI reports and dashboards with a shortcode
- Sign-in handled on the server — credentials never reach the browser
- Credentials encrypted in your WordPress database
- Choose who can see each report: everyone, logged-in users only, or administrators only
- Reports resize to fit the page width and automatically match the report’s own proportions, so they look right on phones and desktops
- Optionally show or hide the Power BI filter pane per report
- Open a specific page (tab) of a multi-page report
- Group reports into your own categories
- Pick the style and color of the loading spinner your visitors see
- A one-click Copy button next to every report in the admin list, so you never have to type a shortcode by hand
External Services
This plugin connects to two Microsoft services to sign in and display your Power BI reports.
Microsoft Azure Active Directory (Entra ID)
Used to sign in and obtain an access token for Power BI. Your site sends your Client ID, Client Secret, service account email address and password to https://login.microsoftonline.com.
This request is made from your server, never from a visitor’s browser. The resulting token is stored temporarily on your server and reused for all visitors until it is close to expiring (roughly once an hour), so a visit to a page with a report does not normally trigger a new sign-in request.
Privacy Policy: https://privacy.microsoft.com/en-us/privacystatement
Terms of Use: https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/support/legal/
Microsoft Power BI
Used to display your reports. The report itself is loaded from https://app.powerbi.com in the visitor’s browser, along with the short-lived access token your server obtained above. What the report shows is determined entirely by your Power BI workspace.
Privacy Policy: https://privacy.microsoft.com/en-us/privacystatement
Terms of Service: https://powerbi.microsoft.com/en-us/terms-of-service/
Installation
- Upload the plugin files to the
/wp-content/plugins/report-viewer-for-power-bidirectory, or install it from the Plugins > Add New screen in WordPress. - Activate the plugin through the Plugins menu in WordPress.
- Go to Power BI Reports > Settings and enter your Azure AD details (see the FAQ below for what you need).
- Go to Power BI Reports > Add New Report, give it a title, and enter the Report ID and Group/Workspace ID from Power BI.
- Publish the report, then copy its shortcode from the Shortcode column on the Power BI Reports list and paste it into any page or post.
FAQ
-
What do I need from Azure AD and Power BI?
-
Four things, all entered on the Power BI Reports > Settings screen:
- Client ID — the application (client) ID of your Azure AD app registration
- Client Secret — the secret value from that same app registration
- Master User (UPN) — the email address of a service account that can open your reports
- Master User Password — that account’s password
The service account needs a Power BI Pro license and must have multi-factor authentication turned off, because the plugin signs in with the username and password directly. You do not need a Tenant ID — the plugin works it out from the service account’s email address.
-
Where do I find a report’s Report ID and Group/Workspace ID?
-
Open the report in Power BI and look at the address bar. The URL contains both values, in this form:
https://app.powerbi.com/groups/{Group ID}/reports/{Report ID}/... -
Can I set the size of the embedded report?
-
Yes. Each report has Width and Min Height settings. Width is the space the report takes on the page (
100%by default). Min Height is only the starting height while the report loads — once it appears, the height adjusts automatically so the report keeps its correct proportions.You can also override both for a single placement directly in the shortcode:
[powerbi_report id="123" width="100%" height="800px"] -
Do visitors need a Power BI account?
-
No. The plugin signs in with your service account on the server, so visitors just see the report. Use the Content Restriction setting on each report to decide who on your site is allowed to see it.
-
Do my Power BI reports appear as pages on my site?
-
No. A “Power BI Report” in WordPress is just a saved configuration — it has no page of its own and is not listed anywhere publicly. Reports only appear where you place the shortcode.
-
I re-entered my credentials or moved my site and reports stopped loading. What happened?
-
Your credentials are encrypted using your site’s security keys from
wp-config.php. If those keys change — which can happen when a site is moved, restored from a backup, or when the keys are deliberately regenerated — the saved credentials can no longer be read. Go to Power BI Reports > Settings and enter the Client Secret and Master User Password again. -
What happens if I delete the plugin?
-
Your Azure AD credentials and display preferences are removed. Your saved reports and report categories are kept, so reinstalling the plugin brings them back — you only need to re-enter your credentials.
-
Where is the source code?
-
The full source code, including the React/TypeScript front end, is available on GitHub:
https://github.com/AtlasPublicPolicy/report-viewer-for-power-biEverything the plugin needs is already included in the download — you do not need any build tools to use it.
Reviews
There are no reviews for this plugin.
Contributors & Developers
“Report Viewer for Power BI” is open source software. The following people have contributed to this plugin.
Contributors
Translate “Report Viewer for Power BI” into your language.
Interested in development?
Browse the code, check out the SVN repository, or subscribe to the development log by RSS.
Changelog
1.0.0
- Initial release.
1.0.1
- Azure AD credentials are now encrypted in the database.
- Access tokens are cached on the server and reused until they near expiry.
- Added rate limiting to the embed endpoint.
- Removed debug logging from normal operation.